Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
TIBET EXPEDITION
BY MARK ROWE
EUROPEAN scientists have been granted pioneering access to Tibet in the hope of discovering industrial catalysts that could lead to a new generation of chemicals for textile production.
The research team from Britain’s Leicester and Seville universities will next year visit pristine soda lakes, salt lakes and hot springs rich in microbial biodiversity.…
STAINS
BY MONICA DOBIE
TEXTILE experts at Cornell University in New York have listed the best ways to remove 250 varieties of stains. According to the website, of use to textile producers and consumers, (www.human.cornell.edu/units/txa/extension/removingstains.pdf), there are some stains like stomach acid, acne medications and old urine stains “that cannot be removed, in spite of all the time and effort you spend treating them.”…
EIB MOROCCO
BY ALAN OSBORN
MOROCCO has been granted a loan of Euro 120 million, (about GBPounds 73 million), by the European Investment Bank, to help extend its electricity connections with Spain and Algeria. The project is part of an ambitious exchange of electrical power between Europe and north Africa, designed to help boost the liberalisation of the electrical energy markets in the EU’s African neighbours.…
FINLAND GUIDE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FINNISH Energy Industries Federation has published guidelines on how to improve corporate social responsibility in its sector. The European Commission said that the paper was of particular relevance to the nuclear industry, as four reactors supply 30 per cent of the country’s electricity, a figure set to grow because of the approval of a new reactor by Finland’s parliament this year.…
SWEDEN
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening Sweden with legal action at the European Court of Justice over its failure to pass national rules insisting upon environmental impact assessments (EIA) for the decommissioning of nuclear power stations. Brussels claims that the EU’s EIA directive requires that the dismantling of plants and reactors should be subject to planning consent, following an environmental impact assessment.…
WASTE RESEARCH
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A BID has been launched by the European Commission to create a network of major radioactive waste management organisations across Europe, to boost co-operation on research into the disposal of radioactive waste. Brussels wants groups from seven European Union (EU) Member States – Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden – as well as Switzerland, to join the Net.Excel…
EU ENLARGEMENT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
ADDITIONAL European Union (EU) funding towards the decommissioning of Lithuania’s Ignalina nuclear power plant and Slovakia’s Bohunice plant has been pledged by an EU heads of government meeting in Brussels. This European Council promised that between 2004 and 2006, the EU would give the Lithuanian government Euro 70 million annually for the job.…
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT - GERMANY
BY ALAN OSBORN
GERMANY is being threatened with legal action by the European Commission over the award of sewage water treatment and gas and electricity supply contracts by the city of Jever, Friesland, north Germany. Brussels says that the contracts were agreed without open tendering procedures legally required to ensure competition in public procurement.…
SPAIN & ITALY
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has taken the first step towards legal action against Spain and Italy over legislation in those countries to control the voting rights of investments by foreign state companies in the energy sector. Brussels says the laws “may unduly restrict free movement of capital as enshrined in European Union (EU) treaty rules.”…
TENS ENERGY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AMENDENTS to the latest proposed guidelines for European Union (EU) trans-European energy network grant applications would force the European Commission to consider the effect of subsidised projects on competition amongst EU utilities.
The European Parliament has amended the criteria governing the award of grants to make sure that public subsidies to one electricity or gas operator do not negatively impact on a rival or lock out potential new competitors.…